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Black
Women Murdered by Men at a Rate More than Two and a Half Times
Higher than White Women, Study Finds

Black women are most
often killed by a gun and almost always by someone they know

Washington, DC — Black women
face a disproportionate share of fatal domestic violence in America,
according to the new Violence Policy Center (VPC) report When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2011
Homicide Data. In 2011, 492 black females were
murdered by males at a rate of 2.61 per 100,000, compared to a rate
of 0.99 per 100,000 for white females.

The
annual report is released to
coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. The
study covers homicides involving one female murder victim and one
male offender, and uses data from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation’s unpublished Supplementary Homicide Report. This
year’s report applies to 2011, the most recent year for which data
is available.

Here are some of the report’s
findings related to black females murdered by males:

Where the relationship could be determined, 94 percent of black
females killed by males
knew their killers. Nearly 15 times as many black females were
murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers.

Of the black victims who knew their offenders, 52 percent were
wives, common-law wives, ex-wives, or girlfriends of the
offenders. Ninety-three percent of the homicides were
intra-racial.

Firearms, especially handguns, were the most common weapons used by
males to murder black females. When the murder weapon could be
identified, 51 percent of black female victims were shot and
killed with guns. Within that group, 82 percent were killed with
a handgun.

In homicides where the age of victims was reported, 12 percent of
black female victims were less than 18 years old (55 victims),
and five percent were 65 years of age or older (22 victims).

The vast majority of homicides of black females murdered by males
were not related to any other felony crime. Most often, black
females were killed by males in the course of an argument. In
cases where the circumstances could be identified, 87 percent
were not related to the commission of any other felony.

“The sad reality is that women are
nearly always murdered by someone they know,” said VPC Legislative
Director Kristen Rand. “Already, many elected officials and
community leaders are working tirelessly to reduce the toll of
domestic violence. Yet despite these efforts, the numbers remain
unacceptably high. We need new policies in place from local
communities to the federal government to protect women from harm.”

“Nine women each week are shot to death by their husband or intimate
partner,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun
Sense in America. “That's nearly 500 domestic gun violence deaths
each year — more than twice the number of servicewomen killed in
military conflicts since the Korean War. We urgently need better
policies that protect women and their families from this senseless
violence. No American, adult or child, should live in a perpetual
state of fear. It’s inhumane.”

Nationwide, a total of 1,707 females
were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in
2011, at a rate of 1.17 per 100,000.

The study also ranks each state
based on the homicide rate for females murdered by males. In 2011,
South Carolina led the nation with a rate of 2.54 per 100,000.

Below is the complete list of the 10
states with the highest rates of females murdered by males in single
victim/single offender incidents in 2011:

Rank State
Homicide Rate, Females Murdered by Males

1 South Carolina 2.54 per 100,000

2 Alaska 2.01 per
100,000

3 Oklahoma 1.99 per 100,000

4 Delaware 1.92 per 100,000

5 Arizona 1.84 per
100,000

6 Tennessee 1.80 per 100,000

7 Idaho 1.77 per
100,000

8 West Virginia 1.70 per 100,000

9 Louisiana 1.67 per 100,000

10 New Mexico 1.62 per 100,000

Travelers, for
more information, please detour to the full report to find
additional details on the study, including data on the murder of
black females. To view the full report, please visit
http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2013.pdf.

About the Violence Policy Center

The Violence Policy Center (www.vpc.org)
is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and
injury. Follow the Violence Policy Center
on Facebook and follow
@VPCinfo on Twitter.

About Moms Demand Action for Gun
Sense in America

Much like
Mothers Against Drunk
Driving was created to change laws regarding drunk driving, Moms
Demand Action for Gun Sense in America was created to build support
for common-sense gun reforms. The nonpartisan grassroots movement of
American mothers is demanding new and stronger solutions to lax gun
laws and loopholes that jeopardize the safety of our children and
families. In just nine months, the organization has more than
100,000 members with a chapter in every state in the country.
For more information or to get
involved visit
www.momsdemandaction.org. Follow us on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/MomsDemandAction or on Twitter:
@MomsDemand